Ethical guidelines for VIPIRG's research

Research conducted by VIPIRG staff, students, or volunteers is obligated to follow best practice procedures that respect community values, indigenous rights, and environmental and ecological standards. In general, the potential benefits of research must far outweigh any possible harmful impact of the project, and measures must be taken to reduce any possible risks of the research.

This is a living document, which will require regular revision to ensure its recommendations remain effective and continue to be relevant in a climate of changing community values.

General ethical criteria for VIPIRG research projects

The research must have a public benefit.
The research will not involve deception of any kind.
Research cannot be of a highly sensitive and intrusive nature that is likely to cause a participant distress.
Research cannot involve inducement (perceived benefit, punishment) that may compromise the voluntary willingness of a person to participate.
Participants should be fairly compensated for their time and any costs associated with participating in the research (e.g., bus fare, child care).
Research projects will not involve activities that could be considered illegal, a breach of Indigenous protocols and standards, or in contravention of the purposes and goals of VIPIRG.
Research activities will not harm any species or habitats.
An area's natural, cultural, and traditional attributes cannot be damaged or compromised by the research.
Public access to information about the research project and opportunities for community participation must be guaranteed.
VIPIRG will not make data available for secondary research unless participants have expressly consented to this.

Ethics review

All proposed research projects must undergo ethical review by VIPIRG's Research Coordinator . If there are complex ethical considerations, the Research Coordinator may require additional review by a community research advisory group or by an institutional Research Ethics Board.

Research with vulnerable populations

There must be particular attention to ethical obligations in research with:

populations that have historically been exploited or harmed by researchers, such as Indigenous communities
children and adolescents
adults who are cognitively impaired (due to intoxication, developmental disability, or neurological illness or injury) to such a degree that they do not have the capacity to make a fully informed decision to participate
people who may experience negative consequences as a result of sharing information with the researcher
people who may experience negative consequences if they are known to have participated in the research project
people who are recruited for research through a relationship that involves power or trust that might influence participation – e.g., a health/service professional asking a client to participate; a supervisor asking an employee or volunteer to participate

In these cases the specific ethical considerations must be documented, along with the special measures that will be taken to protect participants, respect participants' ownership of their stories and experiences, and ensure that the research is ethically sound.

Research with children and adolescents involves distinct ethical considerations. Decisions about VIPIRG support of proposed research projects involving legal minors will be made on a case-by-case basis and will involve consultation with researchers experienced with the ethics of research with youth.

All research with First Nations, Aboriginal peoples and/or in an indigenous context must abide by the following Protocols and principles for conducting research in an indigenous context from the UVic Faculty of Human & Social Development.

Voluntary and fully informed consent

The researcher is responsible to ensure that free and informed consent to participate in the research is voluntarily given.

All participants will be given a verbal and/or written explanation of the project that includes:

a description of the project
information about how confidentiality will be protected, including who will have access to the data and how the data will be stored
information about the ways that the research results will be published or otherwise used
VIPIRG’s contact information

All participants will be informed that they have the right to contact VIPIRG at any point if they want to withdraw from the research, and that there will be no negative repercussions if they do this.
Ordinarily, participants will be asked to sign a written statement that they (a) have had the project explained to them, (b) understand their participation is voluntary and that they can withdraw at any point, and (c) agree to take part in the research. If this is not culturally acceptable or is otherwise not possible, the procedures used to seek voluntary and fully informed consent shall be documented.

When in doubt about an issue involving consent, the researcher should consult with the VIPIRG Research Coordinator.

As per the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, “Consent is not required from organizations such as corporations or governments for research about their institutions”. However, individuals who are approached to participate in a research project about their organization have the right to give free and informed consent, and to have their privacy and confidentiality protected.

Privacy and confidentiality

Researchers will ensure that information is collected and used in a manner that ensures participants' privacy and confidentiality.

All data that could identify research participants or that involves confidential or personal material will be kept in a locked cabinet.
Participant information will only be accessed by individuals who were identified to participants as having access to data (as part of the informed consent process).
Protection of participants from possible negative consequences resulting from being identified must be balanced with the desire of some research participants to have their voices heard and their participation acknowledged.
If any identifying details are to be published, participants' explicit permission to have their identity revealed must be recorded.

Community-based research (CBR)

Community-based research (CBR) originated as an alternative to exploitive academic research of communities, to promote mutual, respectful, and empowering partnerships between academic researchers and communities with research needs. Increasingly, North American CBR is being redefined in ways that take resources out of communities and reinforce academic, government, and corporate control of research. For the purposes of furthering the current debate around CBR, the VIPIRG website has a description of our approach to CBR and specifically, our definition of “community-based”. In addition, VIPIRG has specific ethical guidelines for CBR projects:

CBR must be relevant and useful to the communities involved. VIPIRG prioritizes CBR projects that address a community-identified research need and have the potential to tangibly address a community problem.
CBR requires significant community input into each project's research design, data analysis, evaluation of findings, reporting, and follow-up action. Levels of participation and degree of participant control of resources and decision-making should be made explicit and not assumed.
To avoid draining community resources, CBR must include a transfer of resources to fairly compensate organizations and individuals for their involvement.
Research that is intended to stimulate action requires a commitment to follow through beyond publication of results. The research design will address the expected level of involvement of the researcher in the action component.